Announcement: JGS of Conejo Valley and Ventura County

Posted by Jan Meisels Allen

The Jewish Genealogical Society of the Conejo Valley and Ventura County (JGSCV) will be meeting on February 13, 2010-Sunday, 1:30-3:30 pm at Temple Adat Elohim, 2420 E Hillcrest Drive in Thousand Oaks, CA.

The Topic: Why Did Our Ancestors Leave a Nice Place Like the Pale **

In 1880, fully 80 percent of our ancestors lived in Poland and Pale of Jewish Settlement in western Russia. We all know of the pogroms (organized violence) and mass exodus of our ancestors to points west over the next generation. This talk will provide background on the 120 years of the Pale from its formation at the turn of the 19th century to its dissolution duringthe First World War. It will provide some context to our ancestor's lives in the Pale, and of course, their decision to leave everything they had known to make new lives in the West.

** The Pale of Settlement was the term given to a region of Imperial Russia [it included much of present-day Lithuania, Belarus, Poland, Moldova, Ukraine, and parts of western Russia], in which permanent residency by Jews was allowed, and beyond which Jewish permanent residency was generally prohibited. It extended from the eastern pale, or demarcation line, to the western Russian border with the German Empire and Austria-Hungary. [Wikipedia.org]

Speaker: Hal Bookbinder has been researching eight family lines for over 27 years, identifying 4,000 relatives and tracing two of these lines into the mid 1700s. A founding member of JGSCV, and former president of JGSLA and IAJGS, he created and continues to edit the annual Jewish Genealogical Yearbook. In 2010, Hal received the IAJGS Lifetime Achievement Award for his various contributions to Jewish Genealogy. Hal was recently elected to theJewishGen Board of Governors. He has spoken at numerous conferences, synagogues and society meetings on topics from computing to geography to brick walls.

Our "Schmoozing Corner" will be facilitated by JGSCV board member and accomplished genealogist, Marion Werle. The "Corner" is available for 15 minutes before the meeting to answer questions attendees may have about their genealogy.

In lieu of our monthly book report, as a result of last month's program with our members who authored books, and the resulting interest on self-publishing, Sara Applebaum, JGSCV member, who spoke about her book, will discuss self-publishing at the beginning of the program.

Our rotating traveling library will have Categories A and D. To see which books are listed under which category, please go to our website, www.JGSCV.org and look under traveling library. The books are available starting 30 minutes before the program to shortly after the program.

We have started our 2011 membership renewal drive and anyone interested in membership may find an application on our website.

The Jewish Genealogical Society of the Conejo Valley and Ventura County is dedicated to sharing genealogical information, techniques and research tools with anyone interested in Jewish genealogy and family history. There is no charge to attend the meeting.

The meeting is co-sponsored with and held at Temple Adat Elohim, Thousand Oaks, CA For more information including directions to the meeting, see our website www.jgscv.org